synopsis

Inspired by the acclaimed book by Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway, MERCHANTS OF DOUBT takes audiences on a satirically comedic, yet illuminating ride into the heart of conjuring American spin. Filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the curtain on a secretive group of highly charismatic, silver- tongued pundits-for-hire who present themselves in the media as scientific authorities – yet have the contrary aim of spreading maximum confusion about well-studied public threats ranging from toxic chemicals to pharmaceuticals to climate change.

"It offends me when someone takes the skills of my honest living...and uses them to twist and distort and manipulate people and their sense of reality and how the world works."- Magician Jamy Ian Swiss

Characters

Patricia Callahan

Investigative reporter for the Chicago Tribune, who launched an award-winning series of articles about the science behind flame retardant chemicals

Matthew Crawford

Former executive director of the George C. Marshall Institute, who resigned in the wake of ethical concerns

Stanton Glantz

An American Legacy Foundation Distinguished Professor of Tobacco Control, who conducts research ranging from the health effects of secondhand smoke to the efficacy of different tobacco control policies

James Hansen

A former NASA scientist, and now an adjunct professor at Columbia University, known for his research in climatology and Congressional testimony on climate change

Katharine Hayhoe

Atmospheric scientist and associate professor and director of the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University

Bob Inglis

Former Republican Congressman from South Carolina's 4th District

Marc Morano

Executive director of ClimateDepot.com, a leading site for climate change skeptics

William O'Keefe

CEO of the George C. Marshall Institute, a conservative think tank focused on scientific issues and public policy

Naomi Oreskes

Along with Erik Conway, the author of the book Merchants of Doubt and a historian of science currently at Harvard University

John Passacantando

Former executive director of the environmental advocacy group Greenpeace USA

Tim Phillips

President of Americans for Prosperity, a political action group focused on limited government and free markets

Sam Roe

Chicago Tribune investigative reporter who along with Patricia Callahan wrote an award-winning 6-part series on toxic flame retardant chemicals that found chemical companies using made-up anecdotes as facts

Michael Shermer

Executive director of the Skeptics Society and founding publisher of Skepticmagazine, who changed his position on climate change in 2006

Fred Singer

Physicist, distinguished research professor at George Mason University, director of the Science and Environmental Policy Project, and critic of the climate change consensus among scientists

Jamy Ian Swiss

A popular performing magician and virtuoso in close-up card work who also studies the psychology and mechanics of creating illusions

James Taylor

Senior fellow at the Heartland Institute and managing editor of the journal Environment & Climate News, devoted to free-market environmentalism

"I think that if the company as a whole believed that cigarettes were really harmful we would not be in the business of making them. We're a very moralistic company."- Dr. Helmut Wakeham, VP Philip Morris

filmmakers

Robert Kenner

Robert Kenner (Director, Producer) has won an array of awards and garnered rave reviews for his documentary work exposing some of today's least talked of, but most impactful, social and environmental issues. Considered a craftsman of documentaries, his film FOOD, INC. was nominated for an Academy Award and won two Emmys. Variety said FOOD, INC. "does for the supermarket what JAWS did for the beach."

Prior to his work on FOOD INC., Kenner received Peabody, Emmy, and Grierson Awards for his film, TWO DAYS in OCTOBER, an insightful examination of two key events during the Vietnam Conflict and how they shaped Americans' views of the war. Kenner was co-filmmaker with Richard Pearce on THE ROAD TO MEMPHIS for Martin Scorsese's series, THE BLUES. Newsweek called THE ROAD TO MEMPHIS "as fine a film ever made about American music" and "the unadulterated gem of the Scorsese Series." In addition, Kenner has directed a number of specials for HBO, American Experience and National Geographic, including the award-winning and inspirational DON'T SAY GOODBYE. Kenner has also directed a number of award-winning commercials and corporate videos for eBay, Hewlett Packard, Hallmark, and others.

Melissa Robledo

Emmy Award-winner Melissa Robledo (Producer) has worked alongside filmmaker Robert Kenner for over a decade on a variety of projects, including Academy Award®-nominated and Emmy- winning FOOD, INC., WHEN STRANGERS CLICK for HBO, TWO DAYS IN OCTOBER, WAR LETTERS, and JOHN BROWN'S HOLY WAR for the critically acclaimed PBS series American Experience, and THE ROAD TO MEMPHIS for Martin Scorsese's series, THE BLUES. Robledo has worked with a handful of other directors on films for National Geographic and Discovery Channel.

Melissa received her Masters Degree in Documentary Film Production from Stanford University.

Jeff Skoll

Jeff Skoll (Executive Producer) is a philanthropist and social entrepreneur, working to bring life to his vision of a sustainable world of peace and prosperity. As the first full-time employee and President of eBay, Skoll developed the company's inaugural business plan and helped lead its successful initial public offering and the creation of the eBay Foundation. Over the last 15 years, Skoll has created an innovative portfolio of philanthropic and commercial enterprises, each a distinctive social catalyst. Together, these organizations galvanize public will and mobilize critical resources to accelerate large-scale social impact. His approach is unique: driving social impact by investing in a range of efforts that integrate powerful stories and data with entrepreneurial approaches. The Jeff Skoll Group supports his organizations, which include the Skoll Foundation, the Capricorn Investment Group, Participant Media and the Skoll Global Threats Fund.

Skoll created the Skoll Foundation in 1999 to pursue his vision of a more peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world. The Foundation drives large-scale change by investing in, connecting and celebrating social entrepreneurs and the innovators who help them solve the world's most pressing problems. Capricorn Investment Group was created in 2000 to demonstrate that it is possible to invest profitably while driving sustainable, positive change. Today Capricorn manages the assets for Skoll, the Skoll Foundation and others who strive for extraordinary investment results by leveraging market forces to accelerate impact.

Skoll founded Participant Media in 2004 with the belief that a story well told has the power to inspire and accelerate social change. Participant's 55 films to date have collectively received a total of 7 Academy Awards® and 35 nominations, and include The Help, Contagion, Lincoln, Good Night, and Good Luck, Syriana, An Inconvenient Truth, Waiting for "Superman", and Food, Inc. In 2008, Participant launched its digital hub TakePart.com, a leading source of socially relevant news, opinion and entertainment. In August 2013, Participant expanded into television with its new network, Pivot, targeting the millennial audience, available in over 42 million U.S. households. For each of its films and TV shows, Participant creates a unique social action campaign designed to give audiences specific actions they can take on the issues illuminated in the project.

He founded the Skoll Global Threats Fund in 2009, whose initial focus is on five global issues that, if unchecked, could bring the world to its knees: climate change, water security, pandemics, nuclear proliferation, and Middle East conflict.

Skoll holds a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Toronto and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2012.
Skoll's other recent honors include a career tribute at the Gotham Independent Film Awards (2012) and the John W. Gardner Leadership Award (2012).

Pierre Omidyar

Pierre Omidyar (Executive Producer) is an entrepreneur and philanthropist best known as the founder of eBay, an online platform that gives people equal access to information, opportunity, and tools to pursue their goals. Pierre created eBay in 1995 on the premise that people are basically good, and he continues to serve as chairman of the board. Today, eBay enables more than 200 million buyers and sellers to connect and prosper over shared interests.

After eBay became a public company in 1998, Pierre and his wife Pam co-founded the Omidyar Foundation to support nonprofits. Simultaneously, eBay's vast scale and accelerating social impact were demonstrating that business could also be an effective tool for creating social good. In response, they broadened their scope in 2004 to form a new entity, Omidyar Network, to make investments in for-profit companies as well as nonprofit organizations.

Since that time, they have also founded HopeLab, Humanity United and Ulupono Initiative. Along with Omidyar Network, the four philanthropies form the core of The Omidyar Group, which represents Pierre and Pam's philanthropic, personal and professional interests. Working across many sectors and geographies, the Omidyars have committed more than $1 billion to causes including economic advancement for the underserved, technology for improving kids' health, human rights, reimagining journalism and sustainability initiatives. In 2011, they were honored with the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy for the lasting impact of their work.

Pierre currently serves as CEO and publisher of First Look Media, a news organization dedicated to reimagining journalism in the digital age, and Honolulu Civil Beat, a local news service in Hawaii that encourages greater civic participation through media. He is also chairman of eBay and a trustee of Tufts University, Santa Fe Institute and Punahou School. He previously served as a member of The White House Committee on Fellowships from July 2009 to October 2013. Pierre was born in Paris, France, and moved to the U.S. during grade school. He lives in Honolulu, Hawaii with Pam and their three children.

Dr. Diame Weyermann

As Executive Vice President, Documentary Films, Diane Weyermann is responsible for Participant Media's documentary feature film slate. Participant¹s current documentary projects include Laura Poitras's Citizenfour, Margaret Brown's The Great Invisible, Marc Silver's 3 1/2 Minutes, Robert Kenner's Merchants of Doubt, Joshua Oppenheimer's The Look of Silence, Jessica Yu¹s Misconception, Davis Guggenheim's film on Malala and Bernardo Ruiz's film on the drug wars. Previous releases include the Oscar-winning An Inconvenient Truth, the Oscar-nominated, Emmywinning Food, Inc., the Emmy-nominated Chicago 10, Pressure Cooker and PAGE ONE: Inside the New York Times, as well as The Unknown Known, The Internet's Own Boy, Ivory Tower, A Place at the Table, State 194, Last Call at the Oasis, Waiting for "Superman," Countdown to Zero, Climate of Change, Standard Operating Procedure, Jimmy Carter Man From Plains and Darfur Now.

Prior to joining Participant in 2005, Weyermann was the Director of the Sundance Institute¹s Documentary Film Program. During her tenure at Sundance, she was responsible for the Sundance Documentary Fund, a program supporting documentary films dealing with contemporary human rights, social justice, civil liberties, and freedom of expression from around the world. She launched two annual documentary film labs, focusing on the creative process one dealing with editing and storytelling, and the other with music. Weyermann¹s work in the documentary field extends many years prior to Sundance.

For seven years, Weyermann was the Director of the Open Society Institute New York's Arts and Culture Program. In addition to her work with contemporary art centers and culture programs in the Soros Foundation network, she launched the Soros Documentary Fund (which later became the Sundance Documentary Fund) in 1996.

Dr. Naomi Oreskes

Dr. Naomi Oreskes (Book Author) is professor of the history of science and affiliated professor of Earth and planetary sciences at Harvard University, and an internationally renowned geologist, science historian, and author. She is the author of numerous books and articles on the history of earth and environmental science, including The Rejection of Continental Drift (Oxford, 1999) and Plate Tectonics: An Insider's History of the Modern Theory of the Earth (Westview, 2003).

For the past decade, Oreskes has been primarily interested in the problem of anthropogenic climate change. Her 2004 essay "The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change" (Science 306: 1686) has been widely cited, both in the United States and abroad, and her opinion pieces have appeared in many venues, including The Times (London), The Washington Post, the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Nature, Science, The New Statesman, and Frankfurter Allgemeine.

Her 2010 book, "Merchants of Doubt, How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco to Global Warming," co-authored with Erik M. Conway, was shortlisted for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Her current research projects include completion of a book on the history of Cold War Oceanography, "Science on a Mission: American Oceanography in the Cold War and Beyond" (Chicago, forthcoming), and "Assessing Assessments: A Historical and Philosophical Study of Scientific Assessments for Environmental Policy in the Late 20th Century," funded by the National Science Foundation.

She has lectured widely and has won numerous prizes, including the 2011 Climate Change Communicator of the Year. Recently, she was chosen to receive the 2014 American Geophysical Union Presidential Citation for Science and Society.

Erik M. Conway

Erik M. Conway (Book Author) is a historian of science and technology employed by the California Institute of Technology. He recently received a NASA History award for "path-breaking contributions to space history, ranging from aeronautics to Earth and space sciences," and an AIAA History Manuscript Award for his fourth book, Atmospheric Science at NASA: A History.

Mark Adler

Emmy-award winning composer Mark Adler (Music) is a longtime collaborator of Robert Kenner having scored ten of his documentaries, most recently FOOD, INC.

He has scored numerous National Geographic specials, four Hallmark Hall of Fame TV movies and four Oscar-nominated feature documentaries. He's been a regular at the Sundance Film Festival, having scored almost a dozen films that debuted there. These include the Audience Award-winning Miramax film "PICTURE BRIDE," the soundtrack of which was released by Virgin Records, with the film's main title featured in the compilation, "Miramax Films Greatest Hits."

Other feature credits include Paramount Classics' FOCUS, starring William H. Macy; Wayne Wang's EAT A BOWL OF TEA; MARILYN HOTCHKISS' BALLROOM DANCING AND CHARM SCHOOL, which paired Robert Carlyle and Marisa Tomei; and BOTTLE SHOCK, which featured Chris Pine and Alan Rickman. Other notable documentary scores include WAR LETTERS, HAPPY, THE FALL OF FUJIMORI, TWO DAYS IN OCTOBER, and HOLLYWOOD CHINESE.

He won an Emmy for music direction on HBO's THE RAT PACK and garnered another nomination for Hallmark Entertainment's FORBIDDEN TERRITORY: STANLEY'S SEARCH FOR LIVINGTONE. Other notable TV movie scores include Hallmark Hall of Fame's THE LOST VALENTINE starting Betty White and TNT's THE RON CLARK STORY, directed by Randa Haines.

Adler has played keyboards for a number of bands, including the Heart of Gold Band, fronted by former Grateful Dead vocalist Donna Jean Godchaux. He is a past governor of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences where he currently serves on the National Awards Committee and formerly served as VP of the Society of Composers and Lyricists.

Barry Berona

With 20 years behind the camera, Barry Berona (Cinematographer) is at the top of his game. Having received rigorous apprenticeship undersome of the industry's great cinematographers such as Vittorio Storaro, Jonathan Sela, Chris Soos and Darius Khondji on commercials and films such as BULWORTH, BOBBY, DREAMER, BEHIND ENEMY LINES, 4 BMW FILMS and AMERICAN HISTORY X, and with more than 300 commercials under his belt, Berona is in complete command of his craft, moving effortlessly between film and digital formats. With an insatiable enthusiasm for new technologies, he keeps honing his aesthetic by mastering new and original ways to tell stories on the screen. Constantly experimenting with optics and lighting, time lapse, motion control and VFX tools, he consistently achieves stunning visual results.

Berona has broken new creative ground with directors like David Quinn, Wayne Craig, Robert Kenner, Amanda Michelli, Jeff Linnel, Paul Street, Patrick Robbins, Anthony Garth, Elle Kamihira, Nigel Simpkiss, Francesco Carrozzini, and Gilly Barnes. His versatile, award winning commercial work extends to many sub-genres such as automotive, tabletop and beauty for such recent clients as Adobe, Subaru, Toyota, The United States Navy, Snickers, Honda, Coors, Priceline and PureMichigan Tourism to name a few. He recently lensed the acclaimed Superbowl spot for Dannon/OikosYogurt featuring John Stamos.

Berona's diverse film credits include the award winning documentaries AWAKENING FIRE and WHERE THE OCEAN MEETS THE SKY.

Don Lenzer

Don Lenzer (Cinematographer) is a documentary director/cinematographer whose camera or director of photography credits can be found on five Academy Award® winning feature documentaries including WOODSTOCK (1971), HE MAKES ME FEEL LIKE DANCING (1983), MAYA LIN: A STRONG CLEAR VISION (1995 and INTO THE ARMS OF STRANGERS (2000).

His camera work has been featured on numerous documentaries for public television over the years, the most notable of which were "Georgia O'Keeffe: A Portrait" (1975), "Vladimir Horowitz: The Last Romantic" (1987), "James Baldwin: The Price of The Ticket "(1989), "Dancing for Mr. B: Six American Ballerinas" (1989), the National Geographic Special, "Lost Kingdoms of the Maya" (1993),"Suzanne Farrrell: Elusive Muse" and the PBS Series, "Craft In America (2007)."

Among the documentaries he worked on as DP or cameraman that enjoyed a brief theatrical distribution were Leon Gast and Jerry Garcia's THE GRATEFUL DEAD MOVIE (1975), George Nierenberg's SAY AMEN, SOMEBODY (1981), Mark Harris' Academy Award® winning THE LONG WAY HOME (1997), Leon Gast's SMASH HIS CAMERA (2009), Susan Froemke's THE AUDITION (2009) and Susan Froemke's WAGNER'S DREAM (2012).

His directing credits include the 1969 Public Broadcast Lab feature length documentary, FATHERS AND SONS, the 1970 short film, A WONDERFUL CONSTRUCTION, that featured 16 images of the then soon to be completed World Trade Center. He co-directed and shot the Emmy Award winning Great Performances documentary, "Itzhak Perlman: In The Fiddler's House" (1995).

Jay Redmond

Jay Redmond (Cinematographer) began working as a cinematographer and director after graduating from USC's School of Cinematic Arts in 2007. Redmond first worked with filmmaker Robert Kenner on Kenner's 2008 Academy Award-nominated, FOOD, INC., as a cameraman and associate producer. He went on to serve as cinematographer on Kenner's next project, the HBO documentary, WHEN STRANGER'S CLICK, and has also shot several web spots for Kenner's FIXFOOD project.

Redmond's television work includes credits on several acclaimed documentary series, including the Peabody Award-winning, "Vanguard," on Current TV, as well as A&E's Emmy Awardwinning "Intervention."

In 2010, Redmond became a partner in the production company, Ice Ice Media. There his role expanded into producing and directing, with spots for brands such as Levi's, LG, Sprint, Ebay and HP.

Since wrapping MERCHANTS OF DOUBT, Redmond has continued working with RobertKenner and is currently shooting Kenner's next feature, COMMAND AND CONTROL.

Kim Roberts

Kim Roberts (Editor) is an Emmy winning editor of feature documentaries. Her recent work includes WAITING FOR SUPERMAN (Paramount), FOOD, INC. (nominated for a 2010 Oscar), AUTISM THE MUSICAL (HBO), and INEQUALITY FOR ALL (Radius). Kim won an Emmy for AUTISM THE MUSICAL, her third nomination. She was also nominated for an Eddie award for FOOD, INC. and WAITING FOR SUPERMAN from the American Cinema Editors. Her other films include: Oscar® Nominees and Sundance Grand Jury Prize Winners DAUGHTER FROM DANANG and LONG NIGHT'S JOURNEY INTO DAY; LAST CALL AT THE OASIS (Participant); TWO DAYS IN OCTOBER (Peabody and Emmy winner ‘06); MADE IN L.A. (Emmy winner '09); THE FALL OF FUJIMORI (Sundance ‘05); LOST BOYS OF SUDAN (Independent Spirit Award ‘04); DADDY & PAPA (Sundance) and A HARD STRAIGHT (Grand Prize, SXSW). Kim received her Masters Degree in Documentary Film Production from Stanford University, where she won a Student Academy Award. She is an active member of theAcademy of Cinema Editors (ACE).

"If you can 'do tobacco' you can do just about anything in public relations."– Peter Sparber, veteran tobacco lobbyist

Reviews

JOE MORGENSTERN Wall Street Journal

KENNETH TURAN Los Angeles Times

STEPHEN FARBER The Hollywood Reporter

"Potent and urgent."

STEVE POND The Wrap

"Fascinating. Peels back the curtain on a host of unsavory tactics."

JUSTIN CHANG Variety

"Highly entertaining and satirical."

"It's not the science that's affecting us. I mean the science is pretty clear. It's something else that's causing this rejection...the reason we need the science to be wrong is that otherwise we see that we need to change. That's really a hard pill to swallow."- Congressman Bob Inglis (R, South Carolina)